SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT: Entry four

I chose to read this book because I LOVE the author John Green. I've read almost all of his books and still have one more left to read so when I saw Looking For Alaska on the list I had to read it. Something that drew me to this book was the fact that it about something totally different than I expected it to be. I was thinking it would be about someone going on this journey to Alaska but I was completely wrong. Honestly if it was what I thought it would be about, I probably wouldn't have read it . This book can be easily connected to for me because in a sense I've gone to seek a "Great Perhaps" or in other words, look for some sort of meaning to my life. I used to be a lot like Pudge in this book. It was hard for me to find/kepp friends because I was very shy and awkward. But now that I've had a lot more experiences with people and being in situations that force me to interact with people it's caused me to become a lot less socially awkward and introverted. I can also connect to Alaska in  some ways because I admit, I have times where I dont fully think through my decisions and end up regretting them later or i choose to disgregard certain things that i shouldn't. But I've definately been able to realize this for myself and work on it. I would reccomend this book to anyone, boys and girls, in high school because there are many aspects of the book that both boys and girls can relate to. It's also told from a guy's perspective. It is definately one of the best books I've read in a long time and highly reccomend it to those looking for a good book to read(:

SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT: Entry three

"Those awful things are survivable, because we are as indestructible as we believe ourselves to be. When adults say, "teenagers think they are invincible" with that sly, stupid smile on their faces, they don't know how right they are. We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are. We cannot be born, and we cannot die. Like all energy, we can only change different shapes and sizes and manifestations. They forget that when they get old. They get scared of losing and failing. But that part of us greater than the sum of our parts cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail."

 

Pudge writes this as a part of an essay he was assigned. The question all of the students were asked to answer is, "How will you ever get out of this labryinth of suffering?" He explains that there is no easy way out of the labryinth and that some people think it's easiest to just get comfortable and end up pretending that the labryinth does not exist. So they build a small, self-sufficient world in a corner somewhere. But he says that it will only lead you to a lonely life accompanied by the words asked in the question. Pudge goes on to say that some come to look for a Great Perhaps or like Alaska, they choose to leave the labryinth "straight and fast" because they collapse into the enigma of themselves. Although they will be forgotten, it's hard to think that they will just dissipate into the earth to be mined by humans or used to heat their homes. Pudge realizes that this can't be because Alaska was not just matter, she is her own genetic code and her life experiences and her relationships with people and her memories and dreams and hopes and desires. Those can't be destroyed because after all, we are greater than the sum of our parts.

SUMER READING ASSIGNMENT: Entry 2

Looking for Alaska contains several complex characters that are each different in their own way.

Pudge can be viewed as a very awkward person. He doesn't have very many friends, close to none and chooses to instead have his nose stuck in biographies. he memorizes the last words of famous people and as mentioned in my last entry, is out to seek "a Great Perhaps" in order to give his life meaning. Pudge is very firm in finding a place of belonging and improved life at his new school in Alabama. His character develops greatly throughout the story. When he first arrives to Culver Creek and begins to meet people, you can tell that he lacks a great deal of social skills and can be easily considered as the innocent one in the group. The colonel and Alaska both smoke, drink, play pranks and more. Pudge has never experienced any of these activities which later become a symbol of friendship for the group. As time passes, Pudge develops a strong identity for himself. He overcomes his shy nature and becomes more independent. He no longer relies on his parents and other people to make decisions for him. But instead, he makes them for himself. The Colonel and Alaska also teach him what true friendship is and how to live a more exciting life.

Alaska is most certainly the most important character of the book. She is viewed as the gorgeous, rebellious, and self-destructive but fascinating teen. She lives the life of the party and doesn't care about the rules in place. She often doesn't think about the consequences of her actions which causes her to be reckless. The whole story revolves around her and her mysterious nature. Ever since the death of her mother , and the guilt she's carried, she's impulsive and quickly makes her decisions in fear of messing up that bad again. Although she is the most outgoing person in the group, she is often very moody leaving the other charcters confused as to how she is feeling. In other words, she's exteremly hard to read. Since she lives her life in regret and guilt, this could be the main source of her moodieness but it's hard to know for sure. Alaska is a very independent person and came to Culver Creek to get away from her home. After she makes a decision that was clearly not thought through, Colonel and Pudge dedicate their lives to figuring out the mystery of Alaska.

The Colonel is a very straight forward character. Very intelligent, and is important to the story because he's been friends with Alaska for a long time and becomes a stablility for Pudge. He comes from a poor background, but you are often reminded throughout the story how much of a genious he is. He knows every county by heart and later memorizes each and every capitol. He's considered the leader of the group. He's very protective of his mother and each of his friends and is always there for others. Colonel is important to the story because he too adds an element of mystery just like Alaska. But he's a different kind of mystery. He's a very confusing individual and hard to understand sometimes but is Pudge's best friend.

Each of these characters adds a different dynamic to the story and makes it more interesting in their own way. One of the biggest themes of the book is how will we all get out of the labryinth of suffering? Some view the labrynth as the suffering of life. Others view it as the escape from death. Pudge realizes this and comes to the conclusion that the labryinth does not have a singular meaning - rather, it represents personal struggling. another theme that is very important to the book is the meaning of friendship and how beautiful is. In the beginning, Pudge struggled with making friends and really didn't understand the meaning of true friendship. But by the end, he cherishes the friendships he has developed and realizes that he has found his "Great Perhaps" and a meaning to his life.

SUMMER ASSIGNMENT: Entry one

 Looking for Alaska by John Green tells a great story of a group of friends who all share the same traumatic experience but comprehend it in their own differents ways. It begins in Florida with the main character Miles, who later get renamed Pudge, as he prepares to go off to boarding school. The rest takes place at Culver Creek boarding school in Alabama where he then meets his soon-to-be best friends Chip Martin (aka coloniel) and Alaska. Pudge comes to this school in search of "A Great Perhaps" or in other words, some sort of meaning to his life. This becomes an internal conflict for him as he begins his endless earch. All throughout their time at this school, they begin to learn a lot about each other's past lives which unravels one of Alaska's internal conflicts. Her mother died when she was at a very young age but something about her mother's death had caused Alaska to carry a lot of guilt with her throughout her entire life. She had noticed her mother had fallen over one day and she just sat by her mother's side not knowing what to do and didn't think to cal 9-1-1 until it was too late; her mother had died of an aneurysm. This guilt later pushes Alaska to do something which creates the major conflict of the book. On the day of her mother's death, Alaska had gotten terribly drunk and had forgotten that she always puts flowers on her mother's grave. She then becomes angry with herself and decides to leave the school late at night driving as fast as she could. Pudge and the Coloniel later find out that Alaska is dead. Both characters along with several others begin to struggle with the idea that she is dead. They cannot figure out if Alaska simply just crashed, or succeeded with a plan of suicide. One question I have is how will Pudge's interest in last words play a part in the book? Will this story have a happy ending after Alaska's death?